Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in collaboration with local authorities and shelters in Honduras, is caring for people affected by the floods caused by Hurricane Eta. The storm has caused heavy damage in the country since Tuesday, November 3, affecting 2,885 people nationwide, according to official data. People living in the north of the country are among those hardest hit.
“We have donated medicines to the municipal health ministry, and deployed a team to deliver basic kits and assess the situation in shelters in the Choloma municipality,” said Juan Carlos Arteaga, MSF project coordinator in Choloma. “We also have a remote psychological team available for people who need support, as well as medical response teams if needed.”
As a medical humanitarian organization, MSF maintains emergency care and delivery services at the Choloma Maternal Clinic. MSF has donated supplies including medicines, equipment for preventing the spread of COVID-19—such as masks and antibacterial gels—and basic non-food items for families in shelters. We are also maintaining an emergency ambulance service to transfer patients.
“We continue to evaluate the situation and maintain constant communication with the relevant authorities to identify the most urgent needs arising from this emergency,” added Arteaga.
So far, MSF has provided assistance to around 1,000 people in Choloma. The organization will closely monitor the emergency and is prepared to respond with additional medical and psychological services and the supply of essential items, if needed.
MSF has been providing humanitarian medical support to the Honduran population for 46 years. MSF's first intervention in Honduras was in 1974, in the context of Hurricane Fifi, and since then we have provided independent, neutral, and impartial medical care to the population in response to various crises that have affected the country.
